England national rugby sevens team

England
UnionRugby Football Union
Emblem(s)Red Rose
Coach(es)Tony Roques
Captain(s)Tom Mitchell
Top scorerBen Gollings (2,652 points)
Most triesDan Norton (354 tries)
Team kit
Change kit
World Cup Sevens
Appearances8 (First in 1993)
Best resultChampions, 1993
Team England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

The England national rugby sevens team competes in the Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games. They have once won the Rugby World Cup Sevens — the inaugural tournament in 1993. Historically the team also competed in the World Rugby Sevens Series finishing in second place four times, most recently in the 2016-17 season. The team has been replaced by a combined Great Britain team in this competition.

The England Sevens team has generated several notable sevens players. Ben Gollings holds the record for points scored on the Sevens Series with 2,652 points.[1] Dan Norton holds the record for tries scored on the Sevens Series with over 350 tries as of April 2020.[2] England's Simon Amor (2004) and Ollie Phillips (2009) have each won a World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year award.[3]

History

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England won the 1973 International Seven-a-side Tournament, the first sevens tournament with national representative sides, defeating Ireland 22–18 in the final.[4]

World Rugby Sevens Series

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England is one of the more successful teams in the World Rugby Sevens Series. They have finished in the top three nine times — behind only New Zealand, Fiji, and South Africa.

Place Number Seasons
1st 0
2nd 4 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2016–17
3rd 5 2001–02, 2004–05, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12
4th 2 2013–14, 2014–15
5th 5 2006–07, 2007–08, 2009–10, 2017–18, 2018–19
6th 1 2012–13
7th 1 2000–01
8th 1 2015–16
9th 1 1999–00

Quadrennial tournaments

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Rugby World Cup Sevens

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World Cup record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
Scotland 1993 Champions 1st 10 8 2 0
Hong Kong 1997 Quarterfinals 8th 5 4 1 0
Argentina 2001 Quarterfinals 6th 6 3 3 0
Hong Kong 2005 Semifinals 3rd 7 5 2 0
United Arab Emirates 2009 Quarterfinals 7th 4 3 1 0
Russia 2013 Runners-Up 2nd 6 5 1 0
United States 2018 Runners-up[5] 2nd 4 3 1 0
South Africa 2022 Challenge Trophy Winners 9th 4 3 1 0
Total 1 Title 8/8 42 31 11 0

Commonwealth Games

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Commonwealth record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
Malaysia 1998 Quarterfinals 6th 3 2 1 0
England 2002 Plate Winner 5th 6 5 1 0
Australia 2006 Runners-Up 2nd 6 5 1 0
India 2010 Semifinals 4th 6 4 2 0
Scotland 2014 Plate Winner 5th 6 4 2 0
Australia 2018 Semifinals 3rd 5 4 1 0
England 2022 9th Place Playoff 9th 6 4 2 0
Total 0 Titles 7/7 38 28 10 0

European competition

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Europe Sevens Grand Prix Series

Sevens GP record
Year Position
20022010 Did not
participate
European Union 2011 2nd
European Union 2012 1st
France Romania 2013 1st
European Union 2014 3rd
European Union 2015 3rd
2016 DNP*
2017 9th
2018 4th
2019 7th
Total 5/14

Note: In 2016, England did not enter a team in the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Sevens. Instead, Great Britain fielded a team.

World Series tournaments

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England won the following legs of the World Rugby Sevens Series:

Players

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Player records

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The following shows leading career England players based on performance in the World Rugby Sevens Series. Players in bold are still active.

Tries scored[6]
No. Player Tries
1 Dan Norton 358
2 Ben Gollings 220
3 Tom Mitchell 135
4 Richard Haughton 106
5 Tom Bowen 105

Award winners

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World Rugby Awards

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The following England Sevens players have been recognised at the World Rugby Awards since 2004:[7]

World Rugby Men's 7s Player of the Year
Year Nominees Winners
2004 Simon Amor Simon Amor
Ben Gollings
2006 Mathew Tait
2009 Ollie Phillips Ollie Phillips
2010 Ben Gollings (2)
2012 Mathew Turner
2014 Tom Mitchell

Rugby Players' Association Player of the Year

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The following players have been voted as the RPA England 7s Player of the Year since 2012:[8]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "World Rugby Sevens: All-time leading points-scorers". The South African. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  2. ^ "Record tries for Dan Norton but England face daunting quarter-final against South Africa at Dubai Rugby Sevens". The National. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  3. ^ "Ollie Phillips: ‘I was a rugby hero and record breaker, but I still suffered from imposter syndrome’", Telegraph, Guy Kelly, 5 November 2019.
  4. ^ The Straits Times, 9 April 1973
  5. ^ "New Zealand crowned men's RWC Sevens champions", World Rugby, 27 July 2018.
  6. ^ World Rugby website, current as of 15 March 2023
  7. ^ "Awards Roll of Honour - World Rugby". www.world.rugby. Retrieved 16 March 2024.
  8. ^ "The RPA Awards – Previous Awards". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  9. ^ "2012 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  10. ^ "2013 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  11. ^ "2014 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  12. ^ "2015 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  13. ^ "2016 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  14. ^ "2017 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  15. ^ "2018 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  16. ^ "2019 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
  17. ^ "2020 – The RPA". therpa.co.uk. Rugby Players' Association. Retrieved 30 December 2023.
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